'House': 'Chase' recap

This Week... Chase (Jesse Spencer) takes on a patient, Moira (Julie Mond), who is a cloistered nun on the verge of making her life-changing vows, and through the treatment process, he and Moira form a unique connection that tests their faith and reason. But when Moira's condition worsens and requires a risky surgery, Chase's judgment is compromised...

House Viewing... This writer had high hopes for 'Chase' - Jesse Spencer's dishy doc has always been the most interesting member of House's team and, following on from his near-fatal stabbing in last week's excellent 'Nobody's Fault', this episode promised to give Spencer some meaty material to sink his teeth into...

The basic premise of 'Chase' is that while the eponymous surgeon's physical injuries may be healing, his emotional scars are taking a little longer to fade. While not as much of a departure as 'Nobody's Fault', the episode is still far more character-based than usual - a refreshing change of pace from the usual procedural, identikit House formula.

In the past, Chase's religious conflicts have been used as little more than a character quirk - something that House (Hugh Laurie) uses to insult his subordinate - but it's rarely had a significant impact on storylines.

This week, the character falls for an attractive nun who's having doubts about devoting her life to God, and while it's difficult to buy Chase falling head over heels for Moira so quickly, it does allow the show to explore his own relationship with religion in an interesting manner.

Other aspects of the character's persona are also put under the microscope. His post-Cameron womanising - frequently discussed but rarely analysed in any detail - is finally thrown into focus, as we glimpse a particularly awkward date with an air-headed actress and see Chase admit that he's "looking for something more".

The references to the character's past, including his aforementioned marriage, also make him feel more like a real person and less like a cypher there simply to deliver medical jargon.

Another key element of 'Chase' is the clash between Spencer's character and Hugh Laurie's medical maverick. Chase apparently considers his stabbing the last straw and is determined to avoid House and his dangerous methods from now on.

But it has to be said, his behavior is somewhat baffling. House makes a good point when he asks, "What did you learn about me that you hadn't known for years?"

Still, Chase's contradictory behavior is pretty much the point of this installment and his final, emotional confrontation with House is the highlight of the episode, with great work from Laurie and Spencer.

House's voice almost cracks as he reflects on his own mistakes and encourages Chase to make the right call, and there's a nice unspoken moment of mutual respect and recognition between the two men in the final scene.

Overall, 'Chase' leaves the viewer feeling a little frustrated - we know that everything on-screen is moot, since House will inevitably reset the status quo and have Chase return to his old position.

It's a shame that the show's writers probably weren't privy at this point to the fact that this is the medical drama's final season. As such, they couldn't make any bold, sweeping changes. Having Chase actually quit his job would have lent his identity crisis some much-needed weight.

Regardless, this is still a strong and refreshingly different episode. It's possible that next week will see House return to its typical, procedural style, but the double whammy of 'Nobody's Fault' and 'Chase' makes it feel like season eight is finally kicking into gear.